Telecommunication systems and services are critical in supporting efficient commerce. These systems are routinely used for purchasing products and services, as well as accessing customer service representatives. As such, customers can conveniently purchase a multitude of goods and services from nearly anywhere. With traditional telecommunication systems (e.g., automated voice response systems), customers can call a company to purchase a product or connect to a customer service or sales representative are required to navigate through a series of buttons and menus using the telephone. When purchasing a product, the user is generally required to know the particular product description prior to completing an order. The conventional phone-based communication does not lend itself offering alternative products to the user, as users typically require a visual inspection of the product. Although the voice response system can be programmed to provide the customer with significant information about products and services, this information can only be conveyed textually. That is, in conventional systems, the customer is presented with no visual information during the conduct of a transaction. Consequently, for example, there is no way for a user to verify visually that items being purchased are indeed the correct products.
Therefore, there is a need for an approach that facilitates transactions through the use of supplemental information that is provided during the transactions.